Big Trouble in a Small Town
by Eternal Fire
Summary: A trip to the Luthercorp plant begins a whole new adventure for Clark and Chloe.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer:  Smallville and its characters are the property of the WB and its creators.  I don't own them. Big Trouble in a Small Town 

Clark Kent scratched the back of his head nervously for the fifth time in about ten minutes.

"Hey, be careful or you're gonna rip out your hair?"

He turned to see his best friend, Chloe, grinning at him widely.  Clark groaned inaudibly; she could make any situation seem comical.

"Chloe, you think our current situation is funny?"

"No, but we're not gonna die here or anything."

Just as she said that, alarms buzzed all around them.

'How in the world did we get into this mess?' Clark thought silently.

Two days ago

The Torch Office…

Chloe bounced into the newsroom, and Clark grinned at her.  Her face was glowing, and she nearly tackled him to the ground.

"I got it!  I got it!  I got it!" she kept screaming over and over again.  She gave him a big, bear hug, and Clark started chuckling.

"Got what, Chloe?"

"I got the internship at the Daily Planet!"

"Wow, that's great!  Congratulations!" Clark hugged her back, and Chloe burrowed into his arms.

It had been two weeks since their trip to the news convention in Metropolis, and Clark found that he liked spending time alone with Chloe.  When he'd decided to start seeing her as more than just a friend, he found that the more time he spent with her, the more he enjoyed her company.  She'd been a bundle of energy in Metropolis – like a kid in a candy store.

"Sorry," she said with a slight blush and backed away, "Didn't mean to crush you."

"I didn't mind," he replied with a warm smile.

An unusual silence came over the two, and they just stared at one another waiting for the other to break the barrier.

"So…" Clark sputtered, "…did you find a top story for this week?"

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me!" Chloe stated, snapping herself back to reality.

She opened her middle, desk drawer and rummaged through it, looking for…

"Found it!"

"Care to share it with me?"

"Check this out!" 

Chloe handed him a pamphlet that held two passes inside.  Opening the booklet, Clark saw that it was an invitation to the Luthercorp plant two days from now.  There was a new system being installed, and Lex Luther was inviting local reporters for a tour.

"How did you get invited to this?"

"I'm shocked!" Chloe said in mock surprise and pressed her palm against her chest, "I'm a qualified reporter, and Lex asked if I'd like to come."

"Oh, he asked did he?" Clark said with a stern gaze while leaning over the desk.

"Why Clark Kent…did I just hear jealousy in your voice?" she teased and wiggled her nose at him.

He came around the desk this time and knelt down by her side.  Reaching out, he laid his hand on top of hers.

"Do I have a reason to be jealous?" His dark eyes probed her for an answer, and she was surprised to see genuine fear in his face.

"No, you don't, I don't like the whole, filthy-rich thing anyway…" Her smile turned into an almost fickle grin, "…I like my men down to earth; you know, someone who likes to get his hands dirty."

"And do I qualify for this, Chloe?" 

She slid her hand out from under his and much to his surprise, began walking her fingers up his arm.  Clark gulped inaudibly at her teasing mannerisms.  He'd never flirted with anyone like this before, and he was pretty sure it was the same for Chloe.  

Likewise, Chloe was nervous; she didn't want to seem too forward.  But she couldn't help it as her fingers climbed higher on his arm.  She could feel his muscles tensing as she passed over his bicep, and finally, she slid her hand up his neck to brush his cheek.

"You more than qualify, farm boy," she said with a bright smile.  He reached up and took her small hand in his again.

Clark just stared into her soft, blue eyes and felt himself drowning in her deep gaze.  He didn't know how it happened, but he slowly inched his way towards her until they were no less than an inch apart.

Chloe's heart thundered in her chest when she saw him come closer, but she did not break eye contact.  He looked at her and asked a silent question; she didn't even consider saying 'no'.

"Chloe…I…"

"Shh," she quieted him.

They both moved at the same time, and their lips brushed slightly.  Both felt the energy surge from the kiss, but it didn't expand to anything more than a gentle kiss.  It was like a test to see if they both wanted this to happen.

Chloe was taken completely off guard when Clark boldly wrapped his arm around her waist.  He nearly pulled her off the chair and drew her close to him.  She could feel him press harder against her mouth and responded with a slight pressure of her own.

"Hey Chloe, I found that whoaaaaaa!" 

Pete's jaw hit the floor when he entered the Torch office, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.  Clark and Chloe jumped away from each other blushing furiously.

"Uh…hi Pete," Clark said nervously as tried to find something to do.  The shocked expression disappeared to be replaced by a wide grin.

"Did I come at a bad time, guys?" he teased.

"No!" they both said emphatically.

"What'd you find?" Chloe asked.  Pete handed her a manila folder.

"What's going on?" Clark asked as he leaned over the desk.  His eyes strayed for a moment to see just how tight Chloe's jeans clung to her legs.

'Stop it!' he scolded himself.

"Since Principle Kwan's death, we decided to put in a small column about him each week.  You know, sort of a tribute to his years here," Chloe explained.

"That's a great idea!" Clark stated and smiled warmly.

'Dammit, I can't think with him smiling at me like that!' Chloe just couldn't help herself; that farm boy had a smile that could melt a woman's heart – any woman including her.

"This looks great, Pete, can you get it to me by Thursday afternoon?  Clark and I have to go to the Luthercorp plant in the morning for a show and tell session."

"Sure, not a problem," the sly smile crept back onto his face, "You two behave yourselves you here me?  I don't want to get any bad reports about you two making out in the broom closet."

"Pete!" Clark gawked, blushing as red as a fire hydrant.

"Nah, we don't need a broom closet – just a nice, dark corner, right Clark?" Chloe asked with teasing smile.

"Oh brother." The young Kent dropped into a nearby chair and hit his head on the desk.

"Man, I could even feel that," Pete laughed as he walked out of the office, "Bye guys!"

"Clark?" Chloe asked several minutes later, noting that his face was still buried in the hardwood.

"I'm a dead man," he groaned into the desktop, "Pete's never gonna let me live this down."  His best friend stood up and walked around towards him.

As if fate wouldn't leave them alone, Chloe tripped on one of the power cords and stumbled forward.  With lightning fast speed, Clark shot up to catch her.  She fell into his arms, and he easily handled the impact of her bodyweight.

"Jeez, I'm such a klutz," Chloe mumbled as she lifted her head off his shoulder.  She found herself staring right into his beautiful, brown eyes.

The tension rose between them again, but Clark continued to hold her in his lap, while Chloe clung to the front of his flannel shirt.

"Well…I…uh…" he stuttered.

"Yeah…ah…" she answered.

"We better finish up the rest of the paper, or we won't be able to go on Thursday," Clark stated trying to break up their staring match.

"Good idea." Chloe let him go and got out of his lap slowly; she found she rather liked sitting there.

Clark let out a much-needed breath when she stood up, and his body temperature gradually returned from boiling hot to simmering heat.  He waggled his head to clear his thoughts and tried to find something to work on.

Chloe sat back down at her computer.  Her face was flushed, but she was smiling on the inside.  She snuck a peek at Clark and saw how flustered he was.  Did she really do that to him?  Warmth stirred in her chest, and she felt a little proud.  She'd finally managed to crack one of her 'mystery man's' layers.

End flashback…

Clark looked around at the four, gray walls surrounding him and Chloe.  This was not going well at all.

When they'd showed up at the Luthercorp plant this morning, Lex had explained that they were going to test a new security system today.  Chloe had immediately broke in and asked him what was so special about it.  Lex had answered that the main computer who ran the security system was an experimental, artificial intelligence unit.

'Wait a minute, you mean that thing thinks?' Chloe had asked.

'Correct, Miss Sullivan, we've been helping design a system like this for U.S. government, but they wanted us to try it on a smaller scale first.  I picked here because I know the quality of people who work here, and I'm confident that everything will go by smoothly.'

Chloe hadn't been so hot about the 'thinking' machine bit, but it had sparked her curiosity so in they went.  Along with them and Lex, ten other people accompanied them.

'As you can see, each hallway is monitored by security cameras, and each section of the plant can only be accessed by its employees, using a handprint scan for access.  If an unauthorized person enters a wrong area, the computer will quarantine the area, and security will be alerted to the situation,' Lex had explained.

'But what if you have people who work in more than one area?' Chloe had countered him.  She had that 'take no prisoners' look on her face.

'That's where the AI unit comes into play.  Every hour, its systems are updated so that if a person is assigned a multiple-section job there won't be problem, or if there is a promotion, the computer will recognize it and approve the transition.'

'Aren't you depending on it a little too much?' That question drew everyone's attention.

'Not at all, Miss Sullivan, there is a technical staff who monitors our security as well as the computer.  If there is a mistake made, they have access codes to change and fix the mistakes within the computer's systems.'

After about twenty minutes into the tour, Chloe had gotten bored with all the technical jargon and fallen back behind the group.  Clark stopped walking and turned back towards her.  He'd asked her what was wrong, and she'd grabbed him and pulled him down a side hallway.

'Come on, let's go exploring!'

'Chloe, we can't, we're not supposed to be here.'

'Well, I'm going so stay here if you want.'

He knew there was no sense arguing with her as she took off down the hall, and he grudgingly followed her.  Five minutes later, Chloe stopped when she spotted a security guard coming down the hall.  She'd pushed him into a maintenance closet and closed the door after she entered.  There was only one problem; the door she opened only unlocked from the outside.

"Clark?" Chloe's voice brought him back to reality.

"Huh…what?" Her head was down, and she was trying to do anything but look at him.

"I'm sorry for getting you into this mess." He just grinned at her.

"Don't worry about it, Chloe.  We're just stuck in a closet – not dead!"

"Yeah, you're right. Hey, wait a minute, I got an idea, we could try and force the door open…" Chloe thought about the idea, but she rejected it a moment later, "…nah, I doubt it'd work, and you'd probably just end up with a bruised shoulder."

"Might as well try it," Clark stated as he walked over to the door.

Now, he knew that he could rip the door off its hinges but not with Chloe right behind him.  Putting his shoulder down, he pushed against the door gently, holding back his strength.

"Just stop, Clark, it's not gonna work!" Chloe sighed and turned around to sulk.

Seizing the opportunity, Clark drew back and shoved his weight against the door.  The lock was easily torn out of his socket, and the door opened.

"Hey, it worked!" Clark laughed.  Chloe looked at him quite surprised that it actually had worked.

As the two stepped out of the closet, they figured that their troubles were over until…

'WARNING…WARNING…UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL…COMMENCING QUARANTINE…'

Before the teens could even react, large metal doors closed at each end of the hallway.

"We're trapped!" Chloe gasped, and Clark just ground his teeth together.  This was turning into quite a day.

Author's Notes:  Alrighty then, let the games begin.  Just what craziness will Clark and Chloe fall into.  Stay tuned to find out.


	2. Forced Secrets

"What's going on?" one of the security technicians asked as he saw the alert come up on the screen.

"Hey, aren't those two with Lex Luthor's group?"

"Yeah, probably just got lost, cancel the alert and let them out."

One of the men punched in an access code, but the computer rejected.

"Access denied…intruders detected…all system access is terminated."

"Sir, we have a problem, the computer has locked us out; I can't get in to deactivate the alert.  It's locked out the passcodes."

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know, it's not supposed to be able to do that on its own."

"Warning…intruders detected…commencing plant shutdown in two minutes!"

"Oh crap, quickly, order everyone out now!"

"ATTENTION…ATTENTION…ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.  THE PLANT WILL BE LOCKED DOWN IN TWO MINUTES.  ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE!"

"That does not sound good," Chloe said with a worried smile.

"What the heck's going on?" Clark wondered.

Outside the Luthorcorp plant, the employees were all gathered looking very confused.  Lex Luthor stormed out of the front gate looking rather pissed off.

"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"Sir," one of the technicians answered, "the computer went on alert when it detected two people in an unauthorized area."

"Who?" Lex asked.

The man opened a laptop and opened a link to the security camera system.  Lex saw none other than Clark and Chloe.

"Mr. Luthor, we tried to cancel the alert, but the computer locked out all the access codes and went into lockdown.  It's going to perform a complete lockout of the plant."

"Which means what exactly?"

"It's going to quarantine everyone out of the Luthorcorp plant."

Other employees and technicians came scurrying out of the front entrance like a pack of frightened rats.

Less than two minutes later, the plant doors slammed shut, and large steel beams crisscrossed over the entryway.

"Somebody tell me something!" Lex roared.

"Sir, there's nothing we can do; the computer's completely cut us out of the system."

Just as the technician finished speaking, his screen went dead.  Now, they couldn't even monitor what was going on inside.

"Clark, I have a bad feeling about this," Chloe said and gulped.

"Don't worry, Lex is not gonna leave us in here; he'll get us out eventually."

"That's the thing, Clark…"

"What is it?" he asked, seeing the worried expression on her face.

"Those doors…" Chloe sighed pointing at the two steel doors that had sealed them in.

"…I think they're air tight.  That means that if we aren't rescued before the oxygen in here runs out, we're gonna…"

"Don't even think like that!" Clark said forcefully and took her hands.

"We're gonna get out of here, Chloe, I promise you." He smiled down at her, and she nodded at him.

"Thanks, I needed to hear that."

Clark cupped her face in his hands and tilted her chin up.  He bent down and laid a soft kiss on her lips.  Chloe curled her arms around his neck and pressed up against him.  He still tasted like peppermint.

WARNING…WARNING…ALL INTRUDERS MUST BE ELIMINATED…

The computer's voice cut off the couple's tender moment.

"What's that noise?" Chloe asked as she heard a loud vibration coming from inside the ventilation shaft.

INTRUDERS MUST BE ELIMINATED…REMOVING OXYGEN FROM CONTAINMENT AREA…REDUCING INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT TO VACUUM

"Clark!" she gasped and clutched him tightly as the fans kicked into reverse.

"I know, Chloe, it's sucking the air out of here."

"We're gonna suffocate!"

"No we're not, there's gotta be a way out of here.  Come on."

Clark led Chloe down to one of the large steel doors.  Concentrating his x-ray vision, he peered through the plating and saw that it was almost three inches thick.

"Hey look, there's a code panel on the side here," Chloe said and interrupted his thoughts. "Maybe we can short-circuit the door or something."

"You sound like James Bond."

"Very funny, now, let me see."

Chloe dug through her purse but couldn't find anything to use.

"What the heck, it works in movies." She proceeded to pull a bobby pin out of her hair.

"Okay, let's see now."

She tried to open the panel to get to the electronic circuitry inside.

WARNING…NO ILLEGAL ACCESS…

"Chloe!" Clark snatched her hand away just as the panel exploded in a shower of sparks.

"Now what do we do!"

Clark stared at the door blocking their path, and his ears easily picked up the rotating fans, which were sucking the oxygen out of the room.  Not more than ten minutes passed by before Chloe began to cough slightly.

"Clark?" she asked softly and wrapped her arms around him.  He was surprised at the desperate tone in her voice.

"Chloe, don't worry, everything's going to be fine."

"No, it's not, we're running out of air, and even if Lex manages to get people inside here, we'll be dead long before they arrive."

"We're not gonna die; I promise you that."

"It's okay, Clark, you don't have to lie to me.  It's really sweet, but there's nothing else we can do."

"You're wrong, Chloe…" Clark walked over the security camera and snapped out it connection, shutting it down, "…I've still got one card to play."

'I've got no choice now; I won't let her die!'

"Clark, what are you talking about?"

"Stand back, Chloe."

He moved her behind him and stood directly in front of the door.  Drawing back his fist, Clark threw all of his power into it and punched straight through the steel door.  A second punch widened the hole to twice its size.  Clark grabbed the inside of the door and gritted his teeth.

Chloe's jaw dropped as she saw him doing this.  She could hear metal grinding and straining against its restraints.

Clark could feel the hinges giving way and gave one last hard pull.  The door was torn out of its socket, and Clark threw it against the wall.  He turned around to see Chloe gawking at him.

"C-Clark?  What…what did you just do?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the main hallway.

"I'll tell you later."

That statement made Chloe's journalistic instincts kick in, and she dug her heels in.

"Oh no, you don't, Mr. Kent.  I just saw you rip a solid, steel door out of a wall, and I want an explanation." Clark knew that this would be coming; he just hoped she'd forgive him for lying to her for so long.

"Chloe, I'm not like normal people."

"Damn right, you're not.  That was incredible!"

"Look Chloe…I'm sorry for not telling you about this, but I have certain abilities.  I have exceptional strength plus I can move very fast.  How do you think I always showed up to save you just in the nick of time?"

"Point taken, but why didn't you tell me?  Aren't I your friend?" she asked sadly.

"Chloe…" Clark took her hands in his, "…you're my best friend, but I felt that the less people that knew about me…the better.  You're one of only three people who know about me." Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Three!  So…I assume that means that Lana and Lex know about you as well," she said angrily.

"Relax okay, I'm talking about my parents." Her anger immediately disappeared.

"You mean…you…Lana doesn't know about you?" Her tone was almost excited.  Clark merely grinned at her.

"No Chloe, I never told her; you're the only one who knows."

That made her smile; she finally knew something about him that was completely hers.  It also explained why he always disappeared from time to time.

"Don't worry, Clark, I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you, Chloe, I knew that I could trust you.  Now, let's get out of here."

Clark kept her behind him as they walked back down the main hallway.

"Don't worry, we should be at the main entrance in a couple of minutes," he said reassuringly.  Chloe clutched his hand and smiled.

WARNING…WARNING…INTRUDERS MUST BE ELIMINATED…

Laser nets appeared in front and behind the two teenagers.

"What is this – a bad sci-fi movie?" Chloe shouted.

Author's Notes:  Stay tuned to see how they plan to escape.


End file.
